October 2022

The events of 2020 have changed our nation forever. The struggles and stresses of the past year will also fuel change within surgery, which is poised to become safer,...

Like most surgical leaders, you're probably eager to put 2020 in the rearview mirror and start fresh with next year's initiatives and goals. The problem is, so many surgical staffs...

If you want to reduce foot traffic in operating rooms — traffic that can lead to increased surgical site infections, distractions, airflow disturbances and decreased efficiency — slide a Do Not Enter sign in laminated holders...

Healthcare professionals are expected to practice cultural humility and provide patient-centered care to diverse individuals who have different cultural backgrounds than their...

No surgeon wakes up in the morning with the intention of performing a wrong-site surgery and yet these types of never events continue to happen, even with protocols...

You're on mute." Yeah, I'm that guy on Microsoft Teams. You'd think that after nine months of remote meetings I'd remember to toggle on my mic when it's my turn to speak....

A few months ago, I operated on a patient with severe nasal polyps —a condition that caused significant discomfort and breathing issues. These polyps were recurrent from...

Many surgical professionals learn best by doing. If you bombard them with information about what to do in the event of a malignant hyperthermia (MH) emergency, but don't...

To help our surgeons find their patients quickly and easily in recovery, we hung a series of color-coded flags on the wall outside each bay. The series of flags are screwed into the wall, allowing us to flip one out as needed....

You can use ultrasound to identify landmarks and assist in the placement of an epidural, but it does not guarantee the catheter will end up in the epidural space. That's why loss-of-resistance training for the gold standard...

To keep your entire staff abreast of the ever-changing guidelines and directives related to COVID-19, make sure the latest information is easily accessible to everyone. When the coronavirus started spreading quickly,...

I'm a big proponent of rigid sterilization containers for numerous reasons. They're reusable and therefore eco-friendly, they protect your instruments from damage much better than blue wrap does and many models...

Hand hygiene has always been important, but COVID-19 has caused us all to refocus on doing it right. To make sure our staff is keeping up with this important task, we perform a fun exercise with Glo Germ, a lotion that glows...

Buying commonly used medications in premixed, pre-labeled and prefilled syringes should be a no-brainer, right? You'd think so, but ready-to-use syringes are more...

At long last, the end of 2020 is in sight. Good riddance. I haven't been this excited for the start of a new year since Y2K. Back in October, I honestly considered covering my...

Monthly one-on-one talks with each of my staff members gives them the chance to speak about any issues they have and talk openly about whatever subject they choose to discuss. The meetings are brief check-ins...

The Oregon Clinic Gastroenterology East at Gateway in Portland ?shut down in March for nearly two months when the pandemic's initial wave hit the west coast hard....

Leadership at our facility believes in hiring the best people possible — then letting them do their jobs. To make this happen, we don't employ traditional pecking orders or a typical hierarchical structure. Medical reps talk...

The buck stops with sterile processing techs, who are ultimately the ones responsible for returning complete instrument sets to ORs on time and properly sterilized....

Product News; Great ideas for your OR

You do countless things over the course of a case to ensure a successful outcome, but often don't think to include them in the patient's chart because, well, they seem like...

The concept of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been around for more than 20 years, introduced in colorectal and abdominal cases as fast-tracked "accelerated...

Your surgeons can spend hours poring over data about what they need to do to ensure a superior surgical outcome, but when they actually go into the OR to operate,...

There's a lot riding on turning over operating rooms quickly between cases. It ensures high-volume surgeons start their surgeries on time, patients pass through pre-op...